Container



R. F. REIFERS Dec. 16, 1952 CONTAINER Filed sept. 27. 1949 INVEIYTOR.

Patented Dec. 16,' 1952 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE CONTAINER.

Richard F. Reifcrs, Chicago, Ill. Application September 27, 1949, Serial No. 117,967

v I (Cl. 20G-42) 1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates generally to a no vel and improved mechandise display or cos- Ametic powder container which can be readily opened or closed by a mere flexing of a portion of the container. l

The primary object of the present invention Vis to provide a novel and improved container for a wide variety of articles, such as, pills, capsules -and the like, in which the container will display 'the articles therein and can at the same time be readily opened to dispense the material therefrom or readily closed by exing one .portion of the container.A

Another object of the invention is to pro- Vide a novel and improved article containerY made of any flexible material but preferably made of transparent material such as plastic in which the container consists of top and bottom members suitably secured together. One of these members being provided with an aperture through which the articles or material contained therein may be dispensed therefrom and the other member being provided with a closure portion for closing the aperture in the rst member of the container.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel simple and ornamental container which can readily serve as a cosmetic accessories for containing and dispensing powders and the like, therefrom.

These and other objects arek accomplished by providing construction arrangement of the various parts in the manner hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is an enlarged top plan view of my irnproved container;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the lines 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an illustrative perspective view of reduced size showing the manner in which the container is held in one hand and the closure member is depressed by the thumb in order to uncover the opening in the container;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the manner in which the container is inverted so that the articles contained therein may be dispensed therefrom;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view shown in cross-sectional and illustrating a modified form of securing the top and bottom members of the container together;

Fig. 6 is a similar fragmentary cross-sectional view showing another modied construction for 2 Y securing the top and bottom members of the container together; and

Fig. 7 is a similar fragmentary cross-sectional view showing a third modification or means for securing the top and bottom membersof the container together.

The preferred embodiment of my invention includes a top container member and a bottom container member, generally indicated by the reference numerals I0 and II respectively. Both of these members are preferably made of transparent plastic -or similar material. The top member includes an outwardly convexed circular or disk-like portion I2 having in the axial center thereof an aperture or opening I3 through which the material or articles may be dispensed from the container. Formed on the periphery of the disc-like portion I2 of the top AII) is a cylindrical or angular ange I4 which is adapted to telescopically engage a similar flange I5 formed on the periphery of an inwardly concaved disklike'portion I6 of the bottom II. Formed integrally with the concaved flexible bottom IS is an inwardly extending cylindrical portion I I which is located in the axial center of the disk I9 of the bottom I I. Formed integrally with the inner end of the cylindrical portion I1 is a horizontal or flat circular closure portion I8 which is adapted to normally cover or close the aperture in the top member in the manner. hereinafter described. The telescoping flanges I4 and I5 of the respective top I0 and bottom II members may frictionally engage one another or may be secured together by any other suitable means if desired.

The top and bottom members I0 and II are preferably made of suitable transparent material so that the articles contained therein may be viewed from the outside to afford suitable display for the merchandise and the like contained therein or either one or both of these parts of the container may be readily made of metal having sufiicient flexibility to permit the flexing of the bottom thereof to uncover the opening in the top for dispensing the material from the container. In this connection, it will be obvious that the top I Il or the bottom II may be made of transparent plastic or other materials while the bottom could readily be made of flexible metal or other suitable materials.

In the operation of uncovering the aperture of the container to permit the materials to be dispensed therefrom, it will be noted that by merely pressing the thumb against the closure member I8` as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings the disk-like portion I8 0i the bottom II is depressed or snapped from the full line position shown in Fig. 2 to the broken line position shown in this figure to uncover the opening I3 in the top portion It and by inverting the container as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the articles contained therein may be readily dispensed through the opening I3 located in the center of the disk-like portion I2 of the top I0. When it is desired to close the container, the disk-like portion I0 of the bottom I I is-pressed inwardly and the closure member I8 snaps into position to close the opening I3 as shown by the full line position in Fig; 2, In the modied form shown in Fig. 5, the peripherial anges I4 and I5 of the respective top and bottom members II) and I I (are. provided with horizontally extending,V aligned parallel flanges I9 which may be heat sealed 'or cemented. In the modified form shown in Fig. 6 ofithe drawings, the peripheral flanges I4 and I5 of the respective topand bottoml I0 and- I I are provided with peripherally arranged interlocking complementary recesses-and beadsras shown in 20, for securing-the top vand bottom portions together.

In the modified form-shown in Fig. '7, the peripheral flanges Ill and I5 of the respective top I0 and bottom I I are positioned in alignment and an adhesive tape or paper strip ZI is secured to theadjacent portions of the flanges-for securing the top and bottom members together.

summarizing the advantages and functions of operation of my improved container, it will readily be seen that by merely holding the container in one hand in the manner illustrated in Fig.- 3 of the drawings and by depressing the thumb on fthe closure member I8 of the bottom I I linwardly to the position shown in broken lines in Fig; 2, the vbottom and the closure memberwill beviiexed or snapped outwardly to uncover the aperture I3, in the cover I0. Then by inverting thecontainer to the position shown in Fig. 4, the articles such as pills, powder or other similar material or merchandise may be-dispensed therefrom and thecontainer immediately-closed by pressing the bottom thereof and snapping the closure member to its closed position or the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. From the above description it Will be readily seen that Ihave provided a very simple, compact container which can'be easily and readily opened orl closed with va .slight pressure by flexing the bottom with respect to the top and at the same time when flexed to the closed position, will posi- .4 tively seal and prevent the accidental discharge of the articles or materials contained therein.

While in the above specification I have illustrated and described my improved container as being preferably in circular form, it could obviously be made in any non-circular form such as polylateral, oblong or even star-shape if so desired.

In the above specification I have described one preferred embodiment and several slight modifications which my invention may assume in practice. It will, of course, be understood that the same is capable of other modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

WhatI claim as my invention and desire to secure lby Letters Patent is:

A container comprising a circular top and bottom member, said bottom member being made of iiexible material, annular flanges formed in the peripheriesof said; memberstelescopically connecting said members together, there being an opening in the axial Acenter of said top member, anr integral inwardly projecting cylindrical pluglike closure member having a flat end face 1ocated in the axial center of said bottom member in alignment with said opening, said plug-like member being of a diameter slightly larger than said opening, said-nat end face contacting said upper member about the periphery of said opening to close-said opening when said bottom is flexed to a normally inward concave position, said -bottom member being depressible to an outwardly convex position by manually depressing said pluglike member to uncover said opening,

RICHARD F. REIFERS.

REFERENCES CITED The'following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES, PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Dec. 17. 1936 Number Number 

